Tips on using ASF's search function

I have started this thread to help everyone get the most out of ASF's site search function. Tracking down the information you are looking for can be a challenging task, and in order to do it effectively there are some tips and tricks that people may not be aware of that can help you zero in on the information you are seeking.

SEARCHING ONLY THREAD TITLES

Sometimes, particularly in the case of particular stocks, people are searching for keywords that they specifically remember being in the thread title. Most of the searches people do on ASF relate to particular stocks. In fact, some of the most common feedback I get on the site search is that people find it difficult to find the official thread on a particular stock as searching for the name of a stock or its ASX code using the regular search pulls up every single thread it was mentioned in.

Overcoming this problem is easy.

Firstly, forget about the main search in the navigation bar. It is good for more general searches but for tracking down more specific information the 'Advanced Search' is the way to go. To get to the advanced search, click on 'Search' in the navigation bar and then click on 'Advanced Search'.



Once at the 'Advanced Search' you will see a box titled 'Search by Key Word' at the top left. Just below the search box you will see a drop down box with two options, 'Search Entire Posts' and 'Search Titles Only'. Simply enter the name and/or ASX code of the company you are looking for, select 'Search Titles Only' from the drop down box and click 'Search Now' at the bottom of the page.



Your search results should only return thread titles containing the company's name and/or ASX code (depending on what information you entered in the search box).

Keep in mind that you need not be searching for a thread on a particular stock to make effective use of the thread title search, but any thread where you can remember keywords in the thread title.

I will close this thread until I add a few more vital tips and then I will open it for questions. If anyone would like to request that I cover a particular aspect of the site search in this thread, please PM your suggestion to me.

SITE SEARCH, FORUM SEARCH, THREAD SEARCH

How many people knew that you could not only search the entire site, but also specific forums and even individual threads? Probably not many, but its true.

Let me walk you through it.

The site search, of course, is most easily accessed through the drop down search box in the navigation bar above or by going to 'Advanced Search'.

But what if you want to search a particular forum for something? Simply enter the forum you wish to search and click on 'Search this Forum' at the top right of the list of threads.



This option will only search that particular forum for the keywords you specify. Very helpful in tracking down information in one particular forum.

Want to search through a particular thread for information contained within? Then use the thread search. Simply click on the thread you wish to search and then click on 'Search this Thread' at the top right of the first post to search through the entire thread to find any instances of keywords you specify.



This option is very useful for scouring threads with hundreds or even thousands of posts to find specific information that you may ordinarily have to track down by clicking through page after page. Definitely a time saver!

SEARCH BY KEYWORD AND AUTHOR

As many ASF members know, you can search the forums for particular keywords or for posts by a particular ASF member, but did you know that you can search for a particular keyword in a post by a specific ASF member?

How does it work?

Simply go to 'Advanced Search' and then enter both the keyword/s you are searching for in the 'Key Word(s)' box and the user name of the ASF member whose posts you would like to search in the 'User Name' box. Then simply set the search options you prefer in the options below this, press 'Search Now' and you are done!



This search would search for posts by Joe Blow with the keyword 'search' in them. It would search all threads of any age, show results as threads rather than individual posts and search all open forums on ASF.

Hi Joe,

A post I was reading referred me to another thread only by it's thread number.

How do you search or go to a thread when you only have it's assigned number?

Joe, a couple of days ago I was looking for the thread "Coal - Where to Now?"
Typed this into the Search box - no matches
Used Advanced Search - still no matches.
The thread definitely exists.

???

steve2222 said:

Hi Joe,

A post I was reading referred me to another thread only by it's thread number.

How do you search or go to a thread when you only have it's assigned number?

Click to expand...

Hi Steve. The correct syntax is www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=xxx where xxx is the thread number.

Julia said:

Joe, a couple of days ago I was looking for the thread "Coal - Where to Now?"
Typed this into the Search box - no matches
Used Advanced Search - still no matches.
The thread definitely exists.

???

Click to expand...

Hi Julia,

When you use the Advanced Search and are searching for a thread title ensure that you have changed the drop down box just below the 'Search by Key Word' text area from 'Search Entire Posts' to 'Search Titles Only'. Also, try and use only the key word in the title. In this case it is 'coal'. When I searched thread titles only for 'coal' the thread you mentioned came up as the first result.

Hope that helps.

Joe Blow said:

I have started this thread to help everyone get the most out of ASF's site search function. Tracking down the information you are looking for can be a challenging task, and in order to do it effectively there are some tips and tricks that people may not be aware of that can help you zero in on the information you are seeking.

SEARCHING ONLY THREAD TITLES

Sometimes, particularly in the case of particular stocks, people are searching for keywords that they specifically remember being in the thread title. Most of the searches people do on ASF relate to particular stocks. In fact, some of the most common feedback I get on the site search is that people find it difficult to find the official thread on a particular stock as searching for the name of a stock or its ASX code using the regular search pulls up every single thread it was mentioned in.

Overcoming this problem is easy.

Firstly, forget about the main search in the navigation bar. It is good for more general searches but for tracking down more specific information the 'Advanced Search' is the way to go. To get to the advanced search, click on 'Search' in the navigation bar and then click on 'Advanced Search'.

Once at the 'Advanced Search' you will see a box titled 'Search by Key Word' at the top left. Just below the search box you will see a drop down box with two options, 'Search Entire Posts' and 'Search Titles Only'. Simply enter the name and/or ASX code of the company you are looking for, select 'Search Titles Only' from the drop down box and click 'Search Now' at the bottom of the page.

Your search results should only return thread titles containing the company's name and/or ASX code (depending on what information you entered in the search box).

Keep in mind that you need not be searching for a thread on a particular stock to make effective use of the thread title search, but any thread where you can remember keywords in the thread title.

I will close this thread until I add a few more vital tips and then I will open it for questions. If anyone would like to request that I cover a particular aspect of the site search in this thread, please PM your suggestion to me.

Click to expand...

Can't get the search results you want by using the simple site search?

Use the Advanced Search and search by thread title! It's quick, easy and fun for the whole family!

Please refer to the quoted post above for further details!

I have made a very minor but what I hope will be a very useful change to ASF's main drop down search box.

There is now a checkbox which, when checked, will allow you to only search thread titles for your particular search term(s). This will narrow down your search considerably and give you fewer but far more targetted/relevant results.

Hope many of you find this useful!

Hi Joe,

How do you search for a particular phrase eg 'range bars'? So I only want posts that have these two words together. Putting the two words in "" still brings up posts where the 2 words appear anywhere in the post but not necessarily together.

steve2222 said:

Hi Joe,

How do you search for a particular phrase eg 'range bars'? So I only want posts that have these two words together. Putting the two words in "" still brings up posts where the 2 words appear anywhere in the post but not necessarily together.

Click to expand...

Hi Steve,

I have just modified the ASF search engine to recognise boolean searches and have reindexed all of the threads and posts.

Try searching for "range bars" (with the quotes) again, being sure to check the box that says "Show Posts", rather than "Show Threads".

You should now get the search results you are after.

The search box above the Navigation Bar (see image below) has now been modified so that it only searches thread titles. This should assist those who are searching for threads on particular stocks. Just enter the three letter ASX code or the name of the company and the search results returned will only be those threads with the specific search term (e.g. RIO) in the thread title.

The drop down search box has not been modified in this way and in order to do thread title only searches the "Search Titles Only" checkbox must be checked before searching.



As always, for more complex searches, please use the Advanced Search.

Joe, I really have difficulty searching for companies at times

Can you please check

John

bigdog said:

Joe, I really have difficulty searching for companies at times

Can you please check

John

Click to expand...

John, enter the ASX code in the search box and be sure to check the box immediately below that says "Search titles only".

Only threads with that ASX code in the thread title will be returned in the search results.

Let me know how you go.

Joe

One of the reasons for why my searches are NOT successful is the default tick in [search this forum only]

When I remove the tick my searches work (must remove for every search)

Can you remove the default tick in [search this forum only]

Hi John,

When you perform a search from within a particular forum (or a thread in that forum), the "Search this forum only" checkbox will always be checked by default.

However, when you are located on the Home Page or the Forum Home you will not see that option at all. I recommend you perform all your site wide searches from those two locations. Wherever you are on ASF, it is only one click to get to either of them.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Is there any chance of adding the option to filter search results by date? I keep clicking on links from more than 5 years ago where the information is well and truly stale.

BlindSquirrel said:

Is there any chance of adding the option to filter search results by date? I keep clicking on links from more than 5 years ago where the information is well and truly stale.

Click to expand...

There is but you need to go to the Advanced Search which you can find by clicking the "More" button at the bottom of the drop down search box. You can filter by date by using the "Newer Than" option on that page.

Bless your cotton socks Joe! Thanks!

I was trying to re-sort the responses after the search

G'day Joe,

For some extra functionality on the search for stocks, can there be a search stock threads only check box?
Or similar

An example is; a ticker of MAY.
A search of thread title only using MAY brings numerous irrelevant hits such as competition pages.

I think I found the stock thread at the bottom of the third search page, despite it probably being the most MAY titled thread posted in.
So even most recent postings threads can be way off in the bowels of the search abyss.

Or perhaps a sort by most recent posting check box?
I dunno, but in this case I could remember the ticker was Melbana, so searched that instead.

Cheers.

frugal.rock said:

G'day Joe,

For some extra functionality on the search for stocks, can there be a search stock threads only check box?
Or similar

An example is; a ticker of MAY.
A search of thread title only using MAY brings numerous irrelevant hits such as competition pages.

I think I found the stock thread at the bottom of the third search page, despite it probably being the most MAY titled thread posted in.
So even most recent postings threads can be way off in the bowels of the search abyss.

Or perhaps a sort by most recent posting check box?
I dunno, but in this case I could remember the ticker was Melbana, so searched that instead.

Cheers.

Click to expand...

That may only be a problem for May.

gg